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Born in Northampton, Smith grew up in Stroud, Gloucestershire[4] and attended Woodchester Endowed Primary School, where he learned to play the guitar under the guidance of the headteacher.[citation needed] He later attended Archway School, where his mother and his father, John Smith and Sylvia Smith now work as physics and chemistry teachers.

As a teenager Smith listened to Britpop band albums and songs that included Oasis' Definitely Maybe and Blur's Parklife albums. "Suddenly, all I wanted to do was to be in a band," Smith has said. "I learned to play the guitar by playing those records."[1]

He lives in London with his wife, BBC Radio 1 DJ Edith Bowman whom he married on 22 December 2013.[5] They have been in a relationship since 2005.[6] The couple have two sons, Rudy Brae Bowman Smith (born 10 June 2008)[7] and Spike Bowman Smith (born February 2013).

In 2006 Smith stated that Murmur by R.E.M. was his favourite album of all time. Editors drummer, Edward Lay concurred in an interview in Winter 2005, saying, "Tom's favourite album is R.E.M.'s Murmur, so they were his favourite band whilst growing up and I think they've always maintained a certain cool vibe about everything they've released. They haven't sold out at all, so they're big influences not just in songwriting, but the way they've protected themselves as musicians and as a band."[10]

Smith's Converse All-Stars basketball shoes, worn at 2007's V Festival, went on sale on internet site eBay in a charity auction to raise money for MAG (Mines Advisory Group). They raised £52; slightly more than the RRP for a new pair.[11] In April 2011 Smith ran the London Marathon along with band-mate Russell Leetch. They raised over £10,000 for Oxfam.